Friday, March 12, 2010

Diversity of Facts - Star News

In today's competitive era, media is a powerful advertising tool. However, there is competition in various media groups and each of them are resorting to all means to gain viewership, news channels being no exception.

The word News is derived from the initial alphabets of the four cardinal directions namely North, East, West and South. The reason for the unique derivation of the word can be attributed to diversity of the updates from all directions of the universe. News is supposed to reflect facts with no tinge of fiction, and this is what contributed to the proverb, "A pen is mightier than a sword".

However, the increasing competition has moulded this powerful medium for expression of fact, truth and strong beliefs. News channels have resorted to telecast of irrelevant content to gain TRPs. News channels have come up with shows that talk about movies, daily soaps and film actors, which have altered the domain of a news channel. News channels are now dominated by content high in entertainment value and low in informational value.

In such times when audience is looking for a news channel that depicts the reality of the universe, Star News has come up with a commendable campaign (Click here to view the print ad). If you see the print ad, you will notice that they have tried to use the derivation of the word news (which is diversity innate in the four cardinal directions), which I think will help them break through the clutter.

This campaign highlights the difference between contemporary news channel which are now nothing more than money-minting businesses, and its own brand which promises to bring the essence of news, which are as diverse as the world and people around.

I am not sure about how well they have used the campaign, but in all, this campaign is good and if advertised well, will definitely help the brand meet its promotional goals.